COMPASS, and why a strong candidate can still fail it.
Since September 2023 an Employment Pass application is scored, not simply assessed against a salary floor. Two of the six criteria have nothing to do with the candidate at all.
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In short
COMPASS is the Complementarity Assessment Framework the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has applied to new Employment Pass applications since 1 September 2023. An application must score at least 40 points. Four foundational criteria award up to 20 points each: C1 salary measured against sector benchmarks, C2 qualifications, C3 the share of the employer's professional staff who share the candidate's nationality, and C4 the employer's share of local professional staff relative to its sector. Two bonus criteria add up to 20 points for a role on the Shortage Occupation List and 10 points for participation in eligible economic programmes. A low score on one criterion can be offset by a high score on another. Three exemptions apply: a fixed monthly salary of at least S$22,500, an overseas intra-corporate transferee, and a role lasting one month or less.
Before September 2023 an Employment Pass application turned largely on salary and qualifications. A candidate who cleared the threshold with a recognised degree had a reasonable expectation of approval. COMPASS changed that, and it changed it in a way that is not obvious from the outside: half of the foundational score is about the hiring company rather than the person being hired.
That is the part worth understanding before you accept an offer or, if you are hiring, before you extend one. A candidate can be exactly right for a role and still fail COMPASS because of the shape of the employer's existing workforce, and there is nothing the candidate can do to change that.
The four foundational criteria
Each awards 0, 10 or 20 points, so the maximum from this group is 80 and the pass mark of 40 can be reached in several different ways.
- C1 Salary. Measured against the benchmarks for your sector and age, not against the qualifying salary floor. The 90th percentile and above scores 20, the 65th to below the 90th scores 10, and below the 65th scores nothing.
- C2 Qualifications. A degree from a top-tier institution scores 20, another degree-equivalent qualification scores 10, and anything else scores nothing.
- C3 Diversity. The share of the employer's professional, managerial and executive staff who hold the candidate's nationality. Below 5 per cent scores 20, 5 to below 25 per cent scores 10, and 25 per cent or more scores nothing.
- C4 Support for Local Employment. The employer's share of local professional staff relative to others in its sector. The 50th percentile and above scores 20, the 20th to below the 50th scores 10, and below the 20th scores nothing.
The two bonus criteria
These sit on top of the foundational score and are the reason some applications clear 40 points that otherwise would not.
- C5 Skills Bonus. Up to 20 points where the role appears on the Shortage Occupation List, with the amount depending on how concentrated the candidate's nationality already is within the firm.
- C6 Strategic Economic Priorities Bonus. 10 points where the employer participates in eligible programmes.
Why C3 and C4 are the ones that catch people out
C1 and C2 are about you. C3 and C4 are about your employer, and they are assessed on the firm as it stands rather than on the role being filled. A firm whose professional staff are heavily drawn from one nationality scores nothing on C3 for a candidate of that nationality, however senior or well paid they are. A firm with a low share of local professional staff for its sector scores nothing on C4 for every candidate it puts forward.
The practical consequence is that the same candidate can pass at one employer and fail at another on identical salary and qualifications. If you are weighing two offers, this is a real and largely invisible difference between them, and it is a fair question to ask a prospective employer directly.
It also means an employer can improve its own position over time in a way a candidate cannot. Where a firm is close to the line, that is worth knowing before an application is filed rather than after one is refused.
The exemptions
COMPASS does not apply to every application. MOM exempts candidates on a fixed monthly salary of at least S$22,500, overseas intra-corporate transferees, and roles lasting one month or less.
Outside those three, COMPASS applies. It is worth confirming your position against MOM's own criteria rather than assuming an exemption, because the assumption is a common one and it is usually wrong.
What this means if you are planning for Permanent Residence
COMPASS governs the Employment Pass, which is a Ministry of Manpower decision about employment. Permanent Residence is an Immigration & Checkpoints Authority decision about residence, assessed separately, holistically, and against no published points system at all.
The two are connected only in that holding a pass is what allows you to build the employment history and period of residence ICA weighs. Passing COMPASS comfortably is not a PR score, and no part of the COMPASS framework carries across.
Criteria, fees and timelines are set by the Singapore authorities and are revised from time to time. Please confirm the current requirements directly.